border to continue to make the case for funding a wall. he said he is prepared to use emergency powers to get the wall built if necessary. the democrats are refusing to agree to fund the wall. the impasse has led to a partial government shutdown which is now in its 20th day. japan's prime minister has said that his country offers its total support to theresa may's eu withdrawal agreement. shinzo abe said that the whole world was hoping that the uk would not crash out of the european union without a deal. and this video is trending on bbc.com. the duchess of sussex, meghan markle, has named four charities she will be supporting as patron. one of them is smart works, which helps vulnerable women find jobs and provides them with interview outfits. its founder described her as a natural coach. that's all, stay with bbc world news. and another story here in the uk: jaguar land rover is to cut thousands ofjobs in the uk. the company blames the slowdown in sales in china, doubts about the future of diesel, and the uncertainty over brexit. now on bbc news, live to singapore

for asia business report. new carlos ghosn indictment. the former nissan chief executive could face a press charged this morning as his detention is due to expire. —— fresh charge. may the tech be with you, we test out the latest star wa rs you, we test out the latest star wars toys for children young and old. good morning, asia, hello, world. it's a friday, glad you could join us for this edition of asia business report. i am rico hizon. we start off with carlos ghosn, and the detention of nissan's former boss expires friday when he could be formally indicted on another charge.

earlier this week, mr ghosn appeared in court for the first time to defend himself against these allegations. for the latest, defend himself against these allegations. forthe latest, i defend himself against these allegations. for the latest, i am joined by my colleague. what could be this latest charge? is called aggravated breach of trust, which is more serious than the two charges that he has already been indicted for, which is underreporting his income. under this new charge that he could face later today, he is accused of ship in his private, personal investment losses to nissan, and he is also accused of making a hefty payment to a saudi businessman who apparently helped to cover up businessman who apparently helped to cover up his losses. he has denied all the charges, as you say, when he first appeared in court on tuesday, but nevertheless he will likely face these new charges later today. and according to his lawyer, he thinks that mr ghosn could stay in jail for many more months to come. translation: there are many cases where bail is not approved before a

trial takes place. this is what we call hostage justice. right now, we're not sure when the first court date will be. it could easily take as long as six months before a trial begins. he is a former prosecutor, so begins. he is a former prosecutor, so he obviously knows the system very well. as he said after these new charge, he will likely ask for bail, but my source says it is highly unlikely it will be granted. he has been injailfor about 7.5 weeks, close to two months, but the big question is, apart from mitsubishi and nissan, have the leadership changes already been done in renault? no, not yet. yesterday renault had a board meeting during which they said they found no wrongdoing by mr ghosn or any other executives. they are still holding him as the chairman and ceo of the company, but nissan and mitsubishi, as we have been reporting, removed him fairly swiftly after his first

arrest. it will be interesting to see if mr ghosn stays in jail whether renault will have to replace him at least temporarily as well. us president donald trump has said he will not be attending the world economic forum later this month, citing the stand—off over border wall funding. he tweeted... 800,000 federal workers from eight and government agencies in the united states are either not working oi’ united states are either not working or working without pay. even those who don't work for the federal government but rely on a government service are being hurt. our correspondent reports. this craft breweries started making beer only three years ago, and already they

cannot make enough to keep up with demand. so they leased a new facility that would allow them to more than quadrupled the amount of year they make. so this is the new facility that we will be occupying, but until the government has opened it as nothing more than a giant racquetball court. this giant racquetball court. this giant racquetball court. this giant racquetball court is costing michael roosevelt $1000 a day. until the federal government issues him a licence, he cannot get his brewery up licence, he cannot get his brewery up and running. with the shutdown, i have no idea when that licence is going to arrive, which means i am paying for the equipment, paying for the lease, paying for utilities, and with no—one... there is no expectation or understanding of when i will start to get some revenue. we wa nt i will start to get some revenue. we want to work! this week, federal workers have been taking to the streets in america. we just got a call from the mortgage company today. payment was made. we won't have any paycheques. how this hurts federal workers, well, that's really pretty clear. they are not getting

paid. but it is the knock—on effects on the overall us economy that gets worse the longer the shutdown continues. $3.6 billion of economic losses by this friday is one estimate from a financial research group. if the shutdown continues, within two weeks, the economic it would be larger than the cost of the wall. this here is what that economic loss looks like. all in, michael estimates he has invested about $1 million in this new brewery that currently sit idle. right now, there doesn't seem to be an end to there doesn't seem to be an end to the shutdown coming any time soon. in other business news making headlines, volkswagen set a new delivery record in 2018 of 6.2 5 million vehicles worldwide. but like rivaljaguar land million vehicles worldwide. but like rival jaguar land rover million vehicles worldwide. but like rivaljaguar land rover it is struggling in china. the carmaker‘s head of operations said 2019 will be

another year of enormous challenges for the brand, above all in light of growing geopolitical risks. the brazilian government has said it would allow a proposed merger between two plane makers to go forward , between two plane makers to go forward, capping weeks of uncertainty in which jair bolsonaro expressed his hesitation. the deal must still be approved by shareholders and regulators. shares in us retailer macy's plunged after the operator slashed its full—year profit and sales forecast over after a week holiday season, sending a chill through the wider retail. the indian government has announced the change didn't —— change in the company's change didn't —— change in the compa ny‘s goods and change didn't —— change in the company's goods and services tax which could help garner support ahead of a general election that must be called by may. our reporter joins us now from mumbai with all the details. how is this going to

help india's small businesses?m the details. how is this going to help india's small businesses? it is really going to help them in a big way, because ever since the goods and services tax was introduced in 2017 there have been a lot of problems for small businesses like your retail stores, your mom—and—pop stores, which you find on the street. they have found it difficult to comply with the new rules, because there's a lot of paperwork, a lot of registration, and traditionally indian small businesses have never functioned like that. as you mentioned earlier, with indian elections around the corner, around months away, the government is making sure that it doesn't take decisions that will hurt it politically, and if you look at the small businesses, this decision is going to help up to 2 million small businesses. now, that isa million small businesses. now, that is a huge number, and traditionally they have been supporters of the current dispensation. but there is a political and economic angle because this will ease the pressure on these

small businesses to comply with these rules, and in turn focus on paying their regular taxes. so the government is hoping that in the long one they will be able to streamline goods and services tax —— long run, and then get these businesses in the fold. it could ta ke businesses in the fold. it could take three or four years, we don't know, but for now it is a big, big relief for small businesses. thank you that update from mumbai. it is the dream of every star wars fan, your very own lights ever. a french. mac —— lightsaber. this lightsaber is designed for fighting, hopefully it will not snap. i will have a battle. so what makes this lightsaber different from other toys ? lightsaber different from other toys? we were working really hard to choose the best materials we can find on earth, to have it as strong

as possible. and how are you going to stop children getting whacked on the head, like i havejust been? this is part of the game. there are a lot of other lightsaber toys on the market, so what makes this one particularly special? this lightsaber has been designed to be very strong and to last a very, very long time. six hours of fighting, no problem, with one battery. how much is one of these going to cost? problem, with one battery. how much is one of these going to cost7m problem, with one battery. how much is one of these going to cost? it is going to cost $250 each. that is quite a lot of money for a lightsaber. it is not that much for quite a high quality lightsaber.m isa quite a high quality lightsaber.m is a toy, though. it is a toy for big kids like us. let's have a quick look at the markets. the hang seng is up, the all ordinaries index gaining just a fraction, two points, and the nikkei 225 up by 200 points

after wall street stocks rose for a fifth straight session overnight, overcoming disappointing holiday sales, as we mentioned earlier, from macy's and other retailers following of volatile trade, but dovish comments by the fed and prolonged trade talks boosting the odds of a trade talks boosting the odds of a trade agreement supporting the market, with the dow up by 122, and the nasdaq gaining about 30 points. thank you so much for investing your time with us. sport today is coming up time with us. sport today is coming up next. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: president trump has visited a town on the us border with mexico to try to win support for his plans to build a wall, which have triggered a government shutdown. many british retailers had their worst christmas for a decade, according to the british retail consortium. marks & spencer and debenhams both

reported falls in sales over the festive period. but there was better news for some, as our business correspondent emma simpson reports. christmas — feels like a long time ago now. so what did we spend our money on? clothes. skincare products. aftershave. food and mince pies. but that wasn't enough for some retailers. it was dismal for debenhams, with sales down 6%, prompting fresh fears about its future. today, its chairman resigned after being voted off the board. marks & spencer had poor festive trading too, with a 2% drop in sales. at b&m, the discount goods retailer, sales also fell. but there were some winners. at tesco, sales were up more than 1%. and it was a similar story atjohn lewis. they too enjoyed a bit of growth. but trading is challenging, and profits are under pressure. it warned today it might have to suspend its staff bonus, for the first time

in more than 60 years. because of the steps we've taken, we've got a strong financial position. we can afford to pay a bonus. the question is, is it prudent to do so? and of course, that's a judgment about what's coming, and the uncertainty in the market. so why has christmas been so tough? well, all that discounting, for a start. i've actually got some good bargains this year, 'cause everything was in the sale before christmas. that is not good for profit margins, and online is another challenge. it's so easy, especially if the weather's bad outside. you can just right—click — yep, have that. people just aren't buying in shops like they used to. they're increasingly browsing and buying online instead. that is after scouring around for the cheapest price. and there is caution around spending too much. i was a bit careful. there's obviously not a lot of money going round, so... and there is plenty of other things to spend our money on. it isn'tjust one

retailer versus another. it's the experience economy. it's all of the choice the consumer has to spend, with a limited amount of money, on where they find the best value for them and their families. for retail, christmas wasn't as bad as some had feared. but there is little to celebrate either, capping a difficult year, and 2019 could be even tougher. emma simpson, bbc news. lots more on our website, but that's it from me. you can get in touch with me and some of the team on social media. next it is sport today, and more on andy murray, who had a hip surgery a year ago, saying the australian open could be his last tournament. hello, i'm this is sport today, from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: ahead of the australian open andy murray breaks down at a press conference where he announces he'll be retiring

at the end of his wimbledon campaign later in the year due to his injury troubles. jordan are the first team through to the knockout stages of the asian cup after beating syria 2—0. and qatar's nasser al—attiyah extended his overall lead in the dakar rally with victory in thursday's fourth stage. hello and welcome to the programme where we start with the tennis and the news that former world number one andy murray has annouced he'll retire from playing after this year's wimbledon championships. at an emotional news conference ahead of the australian open in melbourne, murray left the room in tears before returning a few minutes later. he's been plagued by a hip injury for much of the past 18 months and was a doubt for this yea r‘s australian open which starts on monday. murray has played in 11 grand slam finals, winning 3 of them —